FIFPRO recently featured an insightful interview with Arsenal and England striker Beth Mead, one of the many high-profile players sidelined for nearly a year due to an ACL injury. Missing out on the Women’s World Cup, Mead’s story is a painful reminder of a growing problem in the sport. This interview was part of the promotional campaign for the launch of Project ACL, a critical initiative focused on tackling this devastating issue in women’s football.
At turfcoach, we couldn’t simply stand by. We believe player health is one of the most important topics in football, and it is at the core of our larger mission: reducing injury risks, particularly in sports played on natural turf. We’ve already explored this issue in women’s football in a previous blog, but recent developments have renewed our commitment to addressing this crisis.
Why Are ACL Injuries So Common in Women’s Football?
Research suggests that female athletes are two to eight times more likely to suffer an ACL injury than their male counterparts. Some reports argue the rate is 2.2 times higher for women. The numbers are alarming—players miss out on not just games but entire seasons, including major tournaments like the World Cup. Beth Mead herself shares the emotional toll: “Mentally, it is a tough one because you know the recovery will be at least nine months... I knew the World Cup was coming up and that I was most likely going to miss it.”
Last year alone, 37 players were absent from the World Cup due to ACL injuries. Even high-profile stars like Megan Rapinoe, who suffered three ACL injuries during her career, and England’s Claire Rafferty, who endured two, highlight the scale of the issue. Currently, players like Gabby George and Aoife Mannion remain sidelined, further fueling what can only be described as a “pandemic” in women’s football.
The Unanswered Questions
Many factors are thought to contribute to this troubling trend, but conclusive answers are still elusive. Beth Mead reflected on this in her interview: “Viv [Miedema] and I have done a lot of research... is it biomechanics, is it the menstrual cycle, is it hormones, is it stress, is it scheduling? We’ve sat with many researchers, and there is no definitive answer.”
This uncertainty is why initiatives like Project ACL are crucial, especially as women’s football gains more visibility, attracting more training sessions, more games, and greater physical demands.
What Is Project ACL?
Project ACL is a collaboration between FIFPRO, the PFA, Nike, and Leeds Beckett University, designed to reduce ACL injuries in women’s football. Over a three-year period, the project will focus on players in the FA Women’s Super League, analysinganalyzing key factors such as workload, travel, and injury risks to develop best practices. The goal is to create strategies that benefit the global football community by improving player availability and enhancing injury prevention techniques.
turfcoach’s Perspective
While we at turfcoach wholeheartedly support Project ACL, we believe there are crucial elements that have not yet been addressed—most notably, the quality of playing surfaces. Research shows that up to 24% of injuries can be linked to playing surface conditions. During the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup, international players ranked poor pitch quality and artificial turf as the second and third highest injury risk factors, respectively.
In women’s football, 88% of injuries are non-contact, suggesting that external conditions like pitch quality play a bigger role than previously thought. Female players, in particular, are more likely to play on substandard pitches and under less-qualified coaching environments, further amplifying injury risks.
Another overlooked aspect is footwear. Women’s boots are often designed based on men’s specifications, despite differences in weight, muscle mass, and movement patterns. A survey by the European Clubs Association revealed that 82% of female players experience discomfort due to inappropriate footwear, with 20% customizing their boots for better fit. Improper stud design, such as excessive shoe-surface traction, can increase the risk of non-contact ACL injuries, a factor that deserves serious consideration in the broader injury conversation.
Our Mission: Improving Pitch Quality in Women’s Football
At turfcoach, we are committed to driving improvements in pitch quality across women’s football. One of our key initiatives is the development of a comprehensive pitch maintenance tool for football clubs, leagues, and federations. This tool does not only enable real-time pitch management but also provides data analysis for informed decision-making. Right now, the lack of data on grounds management in football means there’s no objective understanding of pitch conditions, and we aim to change that.
Over multiple years of working with clubs, groundsmen and operations staff, it is evident that the players are the main protagonists of our industry. Therefore, to account for one of the most important stakeholder opinions, we are actively involving players in this process. We are working on a project that correlates players’ perceptions of pitch quality with actual pitch conditions, bridging the gap between subjective experience and objective analysis. If you’re interested in participating, please reach out to us.
Looking Ahead
We are looking forward to the potential of Project ACL and believe its findings will significantly impact the future of women’s football. However, we hope that pitch quality—an often-overlooked but critical factor—will receive the attention it deserves. The road to a safer, more professional women’s game starts with the ground beneath their feet.
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